THE Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) and animal welfare groups went undercover to inspect 35 pet shops and farms across the island over November and December 2010.

The undercover operation - a follow-up to the 'Stop the Cruelty in Puppy Mills' campaign launched in October 2010 - found that a total of 19 out of 35 establishments did not comply with the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority's (AVA) standards.

These establishments have been reported to the AVA. Conditions were lacking in many establishments, from improper flooring to small cages and unsatisfactory hygiene. The survey conducted by the animal welfare members found that 79 per cent of the establishments did not provide details about the puppy's parents when asked, while 84 per cent did not allow viewing of parents. When prompted by the welfare members with basic queries on whether they could see the puppies' parents, the enquirers received these responses 'for what...you are buying the puppy, not the parent', and 'if you can find another pet farm which allows you to see the parents, the pup is free'.

Most were not forthcoming with licence application information either, with all 13 pet farms and 33 per cent of the pet shops declining to help. A whopping 92 per cent of the farms and shops did not question prospective buyers on their knowledge of puppy care and very few shops were proactive in offering pet care tips.

Deirdre Moss, executive director of the SPCA, said: 'It is a case of puppies for profit and the results highlight the urgent need for setting higher industry standards and best practices, a robust licensing system and increasing rigorous enforcement for the trade.' The results from the undercover operation have been forwarded in a paper to the AVA with key recommendations such as improvements to flooring, abolishment of the use of water bottles, mandatory licensing at the point of sale, as well as proper counselling on pet care prior to any purchase of a pet.

Other recommendations include a, 'Think twice before you buy' poster (designed by welfare groups and endorsed by AVA) that should be prominently displayed in all shops and farms, and improvements to be made in all 19 premises that failed to meet AVA's standards. View the 'Stop the Cruelty in Puppy Mills' campaign website at http://sgpuppies.com

The three Shih Tzus pictured, were found abandoned in an open field in the Lorong Halus Road/Pasir Ris farmway area by a member of the public, who brought them in to the SPCA on 2 December. All three dogs were in a weak and poor condition, and died following intensive veterinary care. Their approximate ages were between eight and ten years old. All three had heavily matted fur, long nails and were suffering from cataract or glaucoma.

The SPCA is offering a $1000 reward for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of the person/s responsible for abandoning these neglected dogs. If you can help, please call SPCA at 6287 5355 ext 9.

In Singapore, cruelty to animals is a crime. Under the Animals and Birds Act, anyone who is
found guilty of such an offence including abandonment of any animal, can be imprisoned for up to 12 months, fined up to $10,000, or both.

In a bid to curb the abandonment of pet dogs in Singapore, a national microchip database will soon be set up.

Announced at the Singapore Animal Welfare Symposium and Public Forum on Animal Welfare Polices today, the database will allow the tracking of pet dogs, and facilitate the identification of owners who abandon their animals.

Commending the move as absolutely essential, Nee Soon GRC MP Mr K. Shanmugam, who delivered the keynote speech at the event, said it is testimony that Singapore is progressing in the animal protection movement.

Held at Chong Pang Community Club, the one-day forum saw 500 members of the public and 100 members of animal welfare groups turn up.

The forum served as an opportunity to enhance animal welfare in Singapore. Issues like animal protection legislation, humane domestic animal management, wildlife crime and zoo animal welfare concerns were discussed.

Mr Louis Ng, executive director of Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (ACRES), said the move for a national database comes after receiving feedback from local animal welfare groups from the first forum which was held in June last year.

Many abandoned dogs which were rescued were micro-chipped but the information was not uploaded into any registry. As a result, the owners were not tracked down.

Mr Ricky Yeo, President of Action for Singapore Dogs (ASD) said there are currently at least four existing registries including those owned by ASD, Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals', Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) and Pet-call.

Together with the national microchip database, the AVA will also implement licensing all dogs at the point of sale and during the second vaccination procedure and micro-chipping.

This means that once the pet is sold the license will be transferred from AVA to the owners.

"What we are going to do is nationalise it and make one integrated database, from now on, all of them will be registered in one database rather than different databases," said Mr Ng. "If you abandon, with one database we will track you down", he added. Singapore's current penalty for pet abandonment is up to $10,000, 12 months jail or both.

Hi all. Imagine yourself locked inside your bedroom with no entertainment or pc except facing only the 4 walls and the ceiling for 35 years. It must have felt terrible. This is exactly how Mali, the elephant is facing now. She is trapped in a rundown enclosure in Manila Zoo for 35 years, ever since she was snatched from her mother at the age of 3. Right now, there's a petition going on, in hope to free Mali so that she can have a better environment for her remaining life. Visit aiiooo.com/mali to find out more. =)

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Aiiooo, the top social network for pet owners and animal lovers.

Hi all. Imagine yourself locked inside your bedroom with no entertainment or pc except facing only the 4 walls and the ceiling for 35 years. It must have felt terrible. This is exactly how Mali, the elephant is facing now. She is trapped in a rundown enclosure in Manila Zoo for 35 years, ever since she was snatched from her mother at the age of 3. Right now, there's a petition going on, in hope to free Mali so that she can have a better environment for her remaining life. Visit aiiooo.com/mali to find out more. =)

Bumped to free Mali =)

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Aiiooo, the top social network for pet owners and animal lovers.

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